diff --git a/gramps2/ChangeLog b/gramps2/ChangeLog
index 62aca259f..08163999f 100644
--- a/gramps2/ChangeLog
+++ b/gramps2/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2006-10-16  Alex Roitman  <shura@gramps-project.org>
+	* src/Editors/_EditPerson.py (_given_focus_out_event): Convert to
+	unicode before guessing gender.
+
 2006-10-15  Don Allingham  <don@gramps-project.org>
 	* src/GrampsDb/_WriteGedcom.py: fix bad function call
 	* src/glade/gramps.glade: consistent place name
diff --git a/gramps2/src/Editors/_EditPerson.py b/gramps2/src/Editors/_EditPerson.py
index 3f320cf3e..222cbbed9 100644
--- a/gramps2/src/Editors/_EditPerson.py
+++ b/gramps2/src/Editors/_EditPerson.py
@@ -440,7 +440,8 @@ class EditPerson(EditPrimary):
         if not self.should_guess_gender:
             return False
         try:
-            gender_type = self.db.genderStats.guess_gender(entry.get_text())
+            gender_type = self.db.genderStats.guess_gender(
+                unicode(entry.get_text()))
             self.gender.force(gender_type)
         except:
             return False